NASCAR tells drivers to stay in cars in wake of fatal weekend crash

Rich Barnes, Getty Images

Pallbearers help roll the casket of race car driver Kevin Ward Jr. at South Lewis Senior High School on Aug. 14 in Turin, N.Y.. Ward was killed Aug. 9, when he exited his car during a dirt track race and was struck by a car driven by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

Pallbearers help roll the casket of race car driver Kevin Ward Jr. at South Lewis Senior High School on Aug. 14 in Turin, N.Y.. Ward was killed Aug. 9, when he exited his car during a dirt track race and was struck by a car driven by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. (Rich Barnes, Getty Images)

Reuters

Will new NASCAR rule prevent future tragedies?

A new NASCAR rule announced on Friday forbids drivers from getting out of their cars during caution periods in races, following an on-track fatality last weekend when three-time champion Tony Stewart struck and killed a driver gesturing at him.

The most widely followed motorsports organization in the United States said it would require drivers involved in accidents to must remain in their car unless it unsafe to do so due to fire or smoke.

Stewart, 43, struck Kevin Ward, Jr., 20, during a dirt track race last Saturday in upstate New York after Ward left his car and pointed at Stewart while standing in the middle of the track.

"As we've demonstrated though in our history, we're willing to react quickly to different incidents," Robin Pemberton NASCAR's vice president of competition and racing development, told reporters at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

"And it's not just NASCAR, it's about all of sports and all of motorsports we take note of."